It is a usual matter at the present time, especially for those having a health or weight problem, to be concerned about the caloric value of or amount of one or more particular substances in the food they eat. For example, many persons have restricted diets which only permit eating certain kinds of food to a limited extent (e.g., salt-free diets). In the past, caloric and mineral content of foods have had to be determined by reference to booklets or charts giving the contents of the different foods and then either mentally or manually calculating the total caloric or other substantive content for a given meal. All of this was more often than not accomplished in the kitchen and closely adjacent the area where meals were prepared.
Still further, in meal preparation, it is desirable to have timing apparatus closely located to the stove or oven in order to heat different food materials for required prescribed time periods. Also, at times where a given cooking operation necessitates extended heating, it is useful to have some means of bringing to the attention of the cook when the predetermined period of time has elapsed. All of such devices in the past have either been incorporated into a combined relatively complex system cooperatively operating with the oven or stove, or, alternatively, individual single purpose timing equipment has been available (e.g., settable timers) which must be separately referred to and the information obtained therefrom, then correlated with other apparatus and devices located remotely therefrom.